Hues
by RallyPointBravo
Summary: Rainbow Team has faced every threat the White Masks have put before them head on, but when a threat rises from within, can Rainbow brave the storm?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! This is my first attempt at something Siege related, and likely won't retain much of a serious atmosphere in some scenes. I'm going to try to use the operator's name more often than their callsign, although in proper missions they will address each other as callsigns. Please R &R and tell me what you think needs improving!**

The crisp September air drifted through the many buildings of the Hereford Base, creating a swelling melody of wind rubbing against stone and wooden buildings. It was nice weather for the month, which was much to the dismay of the soldiers inhabiting the base, as it meant more jogs more often. Still, even with the shouts of Sergeants and boots making contact with the dirt, the base had a somewhat serene aura to it.

The feeling was interrupted by a service vehicle's engine pulling into the Base's lot a few meters from the main complex. Once the vehicle came to a halt, a pair of men wearing black clothes and carrying large bags stepped out, likely carrying their belongings. As they stepped up to the main entrance they were greeted by an older man in SAS fatigues, holding a clipboard. The expression on his face showed his no nonsense attitude, and while he may not have been the most physically intimidating of men, he was the most intimidating in presence.

"You must be the new recruits. Right this way gents." He turned without looking to see if they were following, knowing they would not dare leave his side. This had become a fairly regular routine for the old timer, having to guide the newbies around the facility. He had been meaning to get himself a replacement for this job, likely Trace or Cohen, but for now this was still his duty.

After guiding them through the facility, he stopped just in front of the dorms and handed both of them a map of the building and forms they would need to sign.

"Didn't introduce myself earlier, apologies. Mike Baker, your commanding officer for the time being. You report anything of note to me, not your squad leaders. You lads do what is asked of you, perform the best you can, and you'll be accepted as full members of Rainbow. Now rest up, you've had long flights, I can tell."

With that, the recruits found their ways to their respective rooms and retired for the day. How he envied them. Sighing to himself, Baker made his way over to the training facility, more specifically the high tech simulations section in which Rainbow conducted most of their training in. The current match consisted of Americans and French. Craig, Eliza, Jordan, Emma, and Gilles against Jack, Miles, Meghan, Julien and Gustave. It was interesting to watch, mostly due to the latter team complaining about Eliza's fast entries and Craig's incredibly irritating sightline denial. Baker never had to endure either, but from the sounds of it the defensive teams were not fond of it.

Still, the match was quite even, with Jack and Meghan making interesting use of their environments, particularly when Jack had managed to punch open a floorboard and drop an explosive onto Gilles' exposed back. When the simulation was finished, Gilles gave him payback in the way of a 'playful' punch to the gut. There were no hard feelings, but that cardiac sensor Jack owned proved to be a great irritation for Gilles.

"Alright you savages, listen up." The group of trainees and the operators spectating with Baker stood at attention and watched him.

"We've got new recruits, don't rough em' up too much, we don't want Six to be sending us any more Russians as punishment." Some chuckles were evoked from the crowd. "In other important news, we've been notified of some suspected White Mask involvement in Germany, and plan to deploy a squad within the week. I'll be putting together a list tonight, so don't get on my bad side until tomorrow."

Hushed murmurs and nods of assent were all he was given. It was the standard fare around Hereford, and Baker was fine with it. It was a nice change of pace to have silence after having to deal with the suits for a weekend.

With a nod, he turned and left for his office.

* * *

"Who do you think he'll pick?"

Jack's question echoed throughout the room, and immediately the small clusters of people converged into one large circle of chatter. Rainbow team, for the most part, enjoyed the banter between the CTU's regarding mission assignments.

"Bet Liz is getting picked. Probably Elias too."

"No way he doesn't let one of the Sisters in on it. Those mines are some nasty shits."

"Are ya really gonna forget about Tim? They always need support, and I doubt old man Mike wants Sebastien or Craig for sniper roles."

"Really Meg?"

The casual conversations eventually subsided as most of the combatants headed off to the showers, while the spectators went down to the mess hall. The hall was alive with the sound of chatter, as all of the operators present had assembled in two rows of tables so they could all speak to one another. The JTF, 707th, GSG9, GROM, SAS, and Spetsnaz operators were hollering and laughing as they watched the two members of GEO down the group's collective piles of mashed potatoes, Ryad failing miserably as his counterpart ate like an animal.

"I see the professionalism has left the building." Meghan said as she walked in with her fellow Americans.

"Yanks! This little Spanish machine has beaten three men now! We're runnin' outta food for' er!" was all that Seamus could spit out before he errupted in laughter again.

Elena slapped her hands down on the table and stood up, wiping her mouth with a napkin generously provided by Mark. "I just ate your asses out of house and home!"

Ryad smirked and stood up, then raised her arm up, declaring her the team Rainbow mess hall champion.

As the Americans sat down, the energy in the room slowed down until it returned to the usual light hearted banter. More gossip regarding the upcoming mission was discussed with the other aspects of the team, and some more personal matters were discussed. Maxim asked if anyone had seen Timur, Jordan claimed he had seen Tim with Emma before showering, and the table erupted in 'oohs' and kissing noises. Elias even wrapped his arms around himself and pretended he was Emma, earning him a kick in the shin from Gilles.

"You should really wear leg armor, mon amis."

"Ah! Oh... You would like zhat, wouldn't you? Can't accept zhat I'm faster, and better looking?"

"Non, I cannot accept those jeans. Are you trying to rival Monika in the mom look?"

A round of laughter, even from Elias, circulated the table before conversation died back down. The team seemed to be particularly rowdy today, likely due to the stress of a pending mission, but the crowd seemed to hide it pretty well. Other units, such as the SAT and BOPE chose to relieve their stress by sitting in their rooms, either meditating or sleeping.

Sleeping seemed to be the main focus now as the table became less and less populated as time went on. Eventually, the table consisted of Jordan, Eliza, James, Seamus, Marius, Zofia, and Sebastien. Discussion slowly shifted towards the operation.

"Bet we're going to be most of th' roster for the mission." James spoke aloud. The table nodded in agreement. They had spent some of the most time on missions out of all of the operators, mostly due to their equipment being instrumental in essential operations.

"Don't know about that one, Porter. Not exactly using Geneva certified weaponry."

"Ah, rubbish. You know that I'm just usin' a bit of what they cooked up themselves. Just returning their gas is all."

"I'd bring Mark in over you," Zofia stated. "He's nice and quiet, unlike you."

"Your sister ain't quiet." James grinned, earning him a slap which he brushed off. He then wiggled his eyebrows at the elder Bosak sister, prompting her to leave.

"Well, looks like the party's over. Think ol' man Baker would 'ave our heads if he caught us stayin' up late."

With that, the group disbanded, heading back to their individual rooms in the dorm section of the Hereford facility. Tomorrow would be a big day, regardless of who was picked.


	2. Chapter 2

The day started as most other days did, with Ryad stumbling through the halls at three in the morning, searching for something to put him to sleep. It was uncommon for the man to ever find a good night of rest, but the early morning proved to be prime sleep (or however close he could get to it) hours.

The racket he made with his clumsy movements usually roused at least two people, and today was no exception. Today, the lucky few were Grace, Ela, Tina, and Taina. The quartet of groggy women made their way over to the mess hall and made themselves mugs of their favorite brew, with Taina absolutely refusing to drink any of that disgusting bean water the Americans called coffee. Real coffee was something it seemed only she and the Captain knew of, so she asked Baker if he could put in a special request for a better brew. Baker was a man who adored a proper brew himself, and started putting in orders for better beans.

The four sat at a table together and made idle chatter, nothing of true importance to speak of. Grace pulled out her phone as they continued speaking and started looking through dossiers as she enjoyed doing in her free time. While it wasn't exactly within protocol, nobody had said anything to her yet, and so she occupied herself by learning her teammates a bit more every so often. Tina leaned over to take a look at what she was doing, finding her screen occupied with the dossiers of the new recruits. Grace looked at her, annoyed. Tina simply dropped her lids and raised her eyebrows a few times, causing Grace to scoff and Tina to smirk.

"If you're looking for the list, you should know that Baker writes things down by hand." Taina said, staring down at her mug as she circled the rim with her finger.

"I'm not. Just browsing."

"Well, if you find anything scandalous, do tell." Ela smirked, thinking things that they would rather not know.

* * *

The hall was left mostly unoccupied as the operators typically ate there, then took their morning beverages to the break room, taking the brief respite they'd have to relax before the working day began. The German and British men took one of the televisions, watching a rerun of last night's soccer match, whilst Sebastien and Alexsandr watched the recent Hockey match. The old timer Alexsandr was once an aspiring player, but that was a lifetime ago. Still, watching the sport brought him enjoyment, even if it was the American league.

Meghan waltzed in with her own mug and stood in the main doorframe and began to shout.

"Meeting in ten! Finish your drinks and put on some damn pants Dominic!"

The German man laughed and said something that the somewhat fluent speakers of German in the room heard as 'you know you like the view'. Still, he went back to his room to find a pair of proper pants, and not the tiny shorts he had grown particularly fond of over the last little while.

Four minutes passed before the entirety of the Rainbow Team had assembled in the meeting room, waiting for Baker to begin his speech. It was unlike him to take so long to get down to the point, so the room began to grow an air of tension.

"Alright, so there's been a change of plans, Six wants to bring three teams rather than one, although the second team will be on standby in the event things go wrong, and the third is the overwatch team."

"Team assignments. Alpha will consist of Jordan, Eliza, Elias, Jack, Monika, and Grace. Bravo is Dominic, Gustave, James, Elena, Tina, and Maxim. Charlie will be the support, with Mark, Meghan, and Seamus providing intel, while Timur and Craig are on sniper duty. Any questions?"

The room seemed to be put at ease. Even those who were assigned became much less anxious. Operators that had been chosen began to whisper amongst each other in the relative silence.

"Alright, you're dismissed. You know your schedules, stick to em' or I'll have you on the field with live rounds fired over your shoulders."

The room began to empty as the team filed out, Baker crossing his arms and waiting for the lot of them to leave. He always wanted to be the last one out, whether in battle or board meetings.

* * *

"Zhis is going to be interesting." Monika said, almost exasperated. She enjoyed working with Elias, she could manage with Jack, but Jordan and Eliza were two of her greatest challenges within the team. Both were brash, hot-headed, and unapologetically irritating to try to speak to. At the very least, Jordan was a man of science so she could find some amount of common ground between them, but with Eliza she had nothing.

Monika's social ineptitude was something she had struggled with for a while, but on operations all of that would be put aside for the sake of lives.

"Ah, it can't be zhat bad Monika. Besides, you've got the most handsome knight of all leading zhe charge." Elias motioned to himself as he finished the thought, holding his arm out as if he had his shield with him and guarding them from some imaginary hostiles. Monika just scoffed and shook her head as they continued back to the GSG9 dorm section.

* * *

The Americans had assembled in the common area to chat about what was going on before heading off to training. Miles was going on about how he never got picked while the rest of the FBI and Seals were selected for nearly every operation. Jack and Meghan were trying to convince him that sometimes his barricades were detrimental to the team, and that he was one of the best shots on the team, but carried around one of the most situational pieces of equipment.

"I'm just sayin' I don't think Mike likes me is all."

"Miles, the man has gotta hate all of us, you're somewhere very low on his list."

Eliza simply walked away from the conversation, not having much to say and having a training excercise in the next twenty minutes. Nonsense wasn't something she really had time for, and the rest of the unit understood that when she left, it wasn't meant to be rude, she just needed to get things done.

After heading to her room and changing into her fatigues, she found her way to the training facility and nodded to the few operators who had managed to get there before her. Emma, Siu, and Marius were all gearing up, closing straps and filling pouches with magazines. Eliza found her vest and suited up, grabbed some mags full of the specialized rounds used for the training simulations, and waited for the instructor.

Five minutes passed and the remaining operators filed in; Shuhrat, Vincente, Dominic, Liu, Gustave, and Mark along with their instructor. The man was medium height, built like a truck and overly British, as all instructors at Hereford were.

"We're going to be doing another live combat drill, however, this will be different. Today we're going to deploy you without firearms. Carry all of that ammo and all of your plates though, this is going to be a test of physical prowess. Defender team, get ready to set up."

With that, the defensive team made their way into the simulation structure, which today was the replica of the suburban home. The attacker team simply walked over to their start point and pulled their first drones out and threw them onto the floor. The little machines were quite resilient, even managing to survive some live rounds. The simulation rounds that they used would instantly destroy them, but real life scenarios were much more forgiving.

The attack team was given the signal to begin searching the house, and within twenty seconds Siu had found them to be within the master bedroom. Emma had managed to taze Marius a few times before he kicked her drone under the bed with such force one of the wheels broke on impact. Emma groaned and shook her head.

The instructor signalled it was five seconds until insertion. With that, Eliza raised her fists and cracked her knuckles.


	3. Chapter 3

The exhausted operators tumbled out of the simulation area, sweat dripping down their brows. The attacking team, as they usually did, won the match, although the defensive team made sure not to let them win easily. Every single kill was a hard fought battle of blades and bodies, of mind and reflex.

Eliza stood with the highest kill count of the attacking team, with Vincente and Shuhrat not far behind. The two had surprising CQC skill, but they were among the best of the nations of the world. Being so effective in combat was to be expected.

"Shuhrat!" , Siu was screaming at the much larger Russian man. "You are _not_ to be using your cluster charges during these excercises!"

Eliza had noticed the distinct sound of the explosive payload detonating earlier in the match, but had decided against saying anything. It wasn't unheard of for the man to use his charges when he wasn't supposed to.

All ten of the operators filed back into the gear room and waited for the instructor to give them some final words before being dismissed. Marius held his arm by the elbow, having fallen on it after being stabbed by Emma. Eliza smiled slightly, enjoying when the greatest problem to her was given a minor inconvenience.

The instructor finally made his way back to the gear room and stood tall before them. He seemed rather pleased with the performance.

"Excellent work teams. Your work out there was commendable. A bit sloppy, but I suppose I did only outfit you with knives. Hit the showers, you're ruining the air in here."

With that, the team dispersed and entered the locker rooms which connected to the showers.

* * *

Emmanuelle was exhausted, and she had every right to be. She carried twice the amount of armor Eliza and Vincente carried, combined with the extra heavy drones, she had the second highest carry weight, only barely beat by Shuhrat.

As she finished peeling her fatigues off and stepped into the shower, the cool water washing over her, she closed her eyes and sighed. The feeling of grime and grease being rinsed from her body always felt good. She could hear the other female operators chattering in the change room before jumping in the showers themselves, but the conversation continued.

Truthfully, she wasn't much of a talker, not very extroverted. She'd rather be alone with her tools and a plan than be making idle remarks here and there regarding how the male operators looked. It was getting rather dull listening to some of the women talking about how handsome Ryad was and asking whether the big old Russian packed a big turret. Meghan was notorious for being the one to bring such things up, and it seemed only Emma and Monika were too profesional to speak with her about the... Topics she provided.

Besides, there was something just plain weird about talking while naked.

Snaking her arm out of her shower, Emma grabbed her towel and wrapped herself up before exiting. Gathering up her things, she quickly put on some clothes before the others had a chance to see her less than presentable. Some of the other women had no problem leaving the showers bare, but she had always been one to cover up. It was just something she could never get comfortable with.

After quickly heading to her room to deposit her duffel bag, Emma decided that now would be one of the better times to work on her new drone project. There had been a little tech wing of sorts developed within the base, where the operators who were capable were given free reign over tools and equipment to better their gadgets. Monika and Mark spent an unhealthy amount of time in there tweaking their devices, while less regular engineers such as Enatsu and Emma frequented it when they needed to.

Emma entered the tech room and found herself the necessary tools; solder, a heat pen, and various other things she may or may not need. She picked up one of her drones, partially dissassebled, and opened up the front doors to access the taser wires. She needed a way to reload these drones, and she thought the best way to do so would be to pop out the front taser section and load in a new one. Problem was, she needed to completely redesign the internals to allow proper horizontal movement. She had already removed the jumping feature to accomadate her tasers, she couldn't afford to lose any more movement.

As she poured over her work, she failed to notice Timur walking up from behind, admiring her work. She turned to reach for a small screwdriver behind and nearly fell out of her chair upon seeing him.

"Merde! Tim, don't do that!" , she shouted, shoving his shoulder as he chuckled.

"Sorry, didn't want to interrupt the artist at work."

Emma's look of annoyance quickly softened into one of contentment as she turned back to her project. Timur took up the space next to her, expecting her to explain as she often did.

"Well, the art that you interrupted is my redesign of my shock drone. I need to figure out how to keep this thing from falling apart, because my new reloading system needs to fit in where the turning mechanism is."

"Seems tough.

"Very."

The two sat in silence for a bit, as Timur was often fond of saying little when in the company of others, and Emma was perfectly content with silently working on her drone. Only when she turned to look away from her drone did she realize he had brought his sketchbook with him, and was idly drawing her form in it. She smiled to herself and set her focus back on her work.

* * *

"Yes ma'am... Of course. No, no. They're professionals. Yes. Will do ma'am."

Mike Baker sat back in his desk chair and groaned at the ceiling as he finished his secure call with Six. Of all of the commanding officers he's dealt with in his life, Six was by far the most difficult to deal with. Not due to personality or orders, but because he could never understand what she was really getting at, or what she really wanted. It was exhausting.

But resting his tired mind would have to wait. Six had just moved the operation up from the end of the week to two days from now. There must've been some happening there that made her want to catch them before they leave.

"Well, they'll 'ave to catch them in body bags."


	4. Chapter 4

Whatever had Six on edge had caused a ripple effect throughout the base. The levity that was usually maintained before an op was no longer present, replaced with a dull, throbbing concern that each member of Rainbow kept within their chest. When Baker had made the announcement, those who were to be deployed felt as if their hearts turned to stone, and dropped to their guts. Urgent operations were often the least preppared, so the operators doubled their training efforts. The gym was never empty, the firing range never quiet, and the simulations running from dawn until dusk. They worked themselves dry, but within their limits. It would hardly do to be too exhausted to lift your shield to battle.

Elias sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel, finally admitting to himself that he should probably eat. The water bottle he brough with him could only do so much to supply him with nutrition, he mused. It was nearly the end of the supper serving schedule, so he'd have to leave without showering. He wasn't that sweaty anyways.

The speed at which he sent himself down the halls served his body well, seemingly drying him out a bit more than the towel could, and before he knew it he was at the mess hall ready to collect his portion of the slop.

Of course, the food was far better than anyone was willing to admit, as they were the elite, but it always felt as though the only proper thing to taste while in the presence of comrades in arms was that of bland, barely palatable mush.

Today's menu consisted of some kind of beef stew and large slices of bread. None of that basic grocery loaf though, one of those nice baguette style buns. Elias was quite a fan of those, although the GIGN had informed him that there were far better buns in their homeland. Perhaps he could steal himself a trip to France with Gilles some day and confirm it.

Regardless, he took the meal and found himself a seat among the remaining operators, the slow eaters. Seamus, Tina, Marius, and Jack. An unlikely group, but seemingly all of the same, business-like mindset. Marius was the first to greet him.

"Elias! I see you hav- **GUD GOT MAN! VHAT IS ZHAT SMELL?!** "

Instantly, the others caught the same draft he had and their eyes widened. There was no doubt of where it had come from, and for the first time in a while, Elias was embarassed. Great.

"Christ alive, you d'int het the showeh, didye?" Seamus shook his head.

"I'm just... Uh... Gonna go eat... Elsevhere..."

With that, Elias picked up his tray and found himself seating across the hall, his face reddening the whole time. He reminded himself to never work out for nearly three hours without taking a shower again.

* * *

The range was filled with a constant barrage of high-powered, ear piercing, 7.62x50mm thunder as Timur unloaded his OTS-03 with deadly precision. Top notch aim was why he was the team's designated sniper, but he needed to keep that finely sharpened tool of his from dulling in the slightest. He could tell when his aim was off ever so slightly, and today was one of those days. He needed to fire until he got it right. Currently he estimated that his shots were roughly two milimeters to the left of his mark. He took a moment to readjust his sights and fill his lungs with fresh air before beginning again.

"I should stop spending so much time drawing." He coldly stated to himself, lining up another seven shots to empty his magazine.

He put the rifle down and brought the target towards him to inspect the damage he had inflicted. The groupings were pretty consistent, very few had just barely reached the edges of the center circle, while the rest remained quite comfortably near dead center.

It was impressive work, especially considering the amount of sleep he had. But it was not his best, and he strived to make it better.

"Yuo know, it is not end of world to take a nap Glazkov."

Timur turned to find Alexsandr standing behind him, arms crossed, staring at the target. The no-nonsense man would be hard to convince.

"I cannot sleep until I am doing well."

"Doing well? You've been in here for three hours. Go rest."

"I will not."

The conversation was deeply boring to Alex, and given his nature Timur figured he'd either yell or throw him into bed forcefully. However, the old man did neither, and instead played his ace.

"I will show Emma your secret."

There it was. There was that special Russian comraderie that he had come to expect from his brothers. Sighing heavily, Timur finished unloading his rifle and hoisted it up to put into his rifle locker.

"You are a cold man, Alexsandr."

"And yuo are a soft one."

Timur shook his head as he left the range, put his rifle away, and headed back to his bed. He would never admit it, but sleep was just what he needed right now.

* * *

 **Much lighter chapter, although don't you worry your pretty little faces, this story will start picking up the darker tones soon enough. Just you wait, once I've got you all understanding the relationships between the ops, you'll see why I made these few chapters light. BECAUSE YOU'LL MISS THESE ONES. YOU'LL MISS EM' A LOT.**


	5. Chapter 5

The dawn was late to rise. The looming, eery dark cast over Hereford was unrelenting, a brewing storm. The base was quiet, but there was a certain liveliness to those within, those who could be very dead in a matter of hours.

The operators who would be going on this mission were to meet at the side entrance at 06:00, geared and fed, ready to ship out in twenty minutes. It wasn't a pleasent schedule by any means, but it was one of necessity. It would be hard to reach the German Biker club in time should they leave any later. The local police forces had been planning an assault for the last few weeks, and with or without Rainbow, the siege would commence.

Rainbow was ready for a fight, and they knew the White Masks were too.

The White Masks had been playing on the defensive ever since Bartlett, being unable to commit to another strike while Rainbow was piercing through their bases of operations and removing leadership within them. However, they were anything but scattered, each siege bringing the collective a greater sense of urgency to get their plans and turn them into attacks. The group that was within the Biker Club was on the verge of an attack.

The inside man, a younger criminal named Nichols, had managed to get a message out to his handler that the sect had brewed up a plot to attack the local port with explosives and grab hostages. They wouldn't leave the property.

The fastest way there was via jet, which allowed the operators to be given another briefing to solidify the plans they had been creating for the last few days. Seamus, as usual, was the lead for this operation. Alpha would seperate into two teams, consisting of Elias and Monika, and Jordan, Eliza, and Grace. The first team would enter via the strip section, the second via the roof. Local forces would enter via Garage and Bar entrances. They would converge on the Armory once the other two floors were cleared. Timur would be positioned South of the building to watch the Bar and Bedroom, Craig would watch the opposing angle.

Should the need arise, Bravo team would head in through the Bar entrance and extract Alpha and proceed to close off entrances behind them until free of the compound. Gustave would be packing as many Stim needles as he could carry for emergency situations.

* * *

The plane landed shortly after the briefing concluded, allowing the operators little time to let the plan settle as they loaded into lightly armored vehicles upon exiting the jet. The operation was almost at hand. The early morning siege would take place at 08:20, leaving them a five minute operation window, with an extra five for emergency situation. At 08:30, a heavier force would convene at the Biker Club in the event the stealth operation was a failure and a more direct attempt needed to be made.

The vehicle was silent as the dark blue fatigues of Rainbow stood out in the early morning light. Not even the chatty members chose to speak, as none really wanted to. Jordan took a moment to pray, as he often did before a mission, while Eliza joined him. Different prayers, but the same feeling between them. They would take any help they could get.

"ETA is five minutes, get your game faces on" was all that Seamus had to offer. He wasn't a quiet man, but the stress of operations, particularly ones in which he was not actively involved in, muted his cheer.

The vehicles pulled up in front of the Biker Club, positioned outside of the line of sights, but close enough that they could deploy the soldiers quickly and effectively to their target locations. Alpha filed out of the first van, Bravo out of the second, Charlie from the last. Local forces had already brought their vehicles by, sitting quietly and waiting for the counter terrorist unit to find their way to them. Seamus and Elias met with the lead officer, making sure the plan was solid, while Meghan and Mark began setting up their command station within one of the vans brought by the Germans. The rest loaded live rounds into their rifles and awaited their orders. Seamus waved Timur and Craig off to find their perches, then signalled for Alpha to get into position.

"Don't forget we're here for the asset and the files. Do try not to kill him."

"Copy."

Each operator was given a black eye camera to place down in strategic locations for Meghan to watch, and Elias was given a jammer to prevent remote detonated explosives to destroy his shield and body. Each of them heard in their earpieces that the operation was to begin. Watches were set in synch. Breach charges were placed. Snipers were ready.

The lead officer contacted Seamus and confirmed the positioning of his men. All was going to go to plan for now. Seamus turned to Mark and Meghan and sighed.

"If this goes off without a hitch, I'm buyin' a round for both of ya's."

Meghan smirked, then shook her head.

"Whatever you say, you crazy bastard."

* * *

Monika felt the ice of fear flood her veins, as it always did before an operation. She hid it well enough, but Elias knew her too well to not notice the shake of her stance, the look in her eyes. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze, and she sighed heavily. Now was not the time for this, and as much as she appreciated Elias' support, this was hardly professional. She smoothly brushed his hand off her shoulder, but gave a nod of thanks to him. Beneath the balaclavas and blue fatigues, she knew just what his face looked like. Always such a dork.

"Don't get frisky now, IQ."

He knew she disliked the callsign, such a boisterous and unnecessary name. She shook her head.

"Just focus on zhe mission."

Elias grinned and hit the detonator.

"Knock knock."


	6. Chapter 6

**Alrighty folks, now comes the combat! I'll be trying to keep the operators adhering to tactics that are quite heavily player influenced, such as Ash rushes and Glaz sitting on his ass in the background. Character names are replaced with callsigns in all combat chapters. Please R &R to tell me how I can improve!**

* * *

The blasts of wooden doors and concrete walls was deafening up close, but muffled for those inside, due to the loud music played within. The White Masks had to put up a convincing facade, and the most easy way was noise polution. These were perfect conditions for a raid.

Blitz pushed through the breached wall, quickly and effectively clearing the corners ahead of him and his partner, trying to prevent the hulking wall of metal he held from making too much noise. The pair made their way through a long hallway connected to the strip club, then proceeded to the door. Blitz allowed IQ to drone through the room, noting four hostiles and marking them on their HUDs (Heads Up Display). The real time indicators were projected onto the environment by special helmet mounted optics that they each wore over one eye. IQ raised her rifle, Blitz his pistol, and together they burst through the door.

Blitz took the nearest two, one sitting on the couches, and one standing near the entrance to the Bar section. Quickly firing three shots at the man further away, neutralizing him, he turned to the nearer, who was in the process of fumbling with his M4. A burst of fire from IQ's AUG flew over Blitz's head, but he ignored it as he flashed the sorry fool before him, causing him to clutch his eyes as he delivered the death shot to his forehead. He quickly turned to his left to check on the other two enemies, but both were lying lifeless at the far end of the room. IQ, expert as always, had easily dispatched of the two unaware men.

Nodding to her, Blitz pushed forward.

* * *

The reinforced drywall exploded inward, spewing shattered bits of metal and wood over the bed, killing the man who had been sitting upon it. Precise shots from a suppressed DMR took out the two men who had been by the doorway, causing their corpses to crumple from the dead weight. The lone man who had been using the bathroom at that moment carefully brought himself off of the toilet and hid behind it, trying his best to stay silent. Of course, silence was of no use when a small, cylindrical black vehicle with red glowing lights drove under the door and stared at him. The man hadn't a moment to react before the wall behind him exploded in shrapnel as a breaching round bore into it. He died before he could decide whether to run or hide.

Ash stood in the site of the wreckage, sweeping the bathroom for more hostiles before backing into the hallway and approaching the stairs. Thermite, Pulse and Dokkaebi followed, Thermite covering the rear with his M1014. Dokkeabi crouched down and began running her tracing software, locating electronics that matched previous White Mask descriptions and messing with their phones in particular, trying to locate one with an actively useful camera feed. One met her requirements, a White Mask using his phone to play some sort of game, and through the rear and front facing camera she located at least eight hostiles within the Armory room, likely with more in the Church. Suddenly the man jerked upright as shouting errupted through the hall. They had been noticed. The phone went dark.

"Eight plus hostiles sighted. Proceed with caution, they know we're here."

* * *

Seamus noted the progress of Alpha, making sure they hadn't been flanked and looking over the feeds of newly placed black eyes. Meghan watched the movements of the German Polizei, telling him that they had successfully breached and cleared the Garage entrance, while the Bar entrance team had supposedly cleared out the four within. Mark continued his radio interference, preventing the Masks from calling for aid or communicating effectively within.

"Alpha, top floor is clear. Main floor is clear. Proceed with Clearing of Bottom floor."

* * *

Alpha regrouped within the Bar, taking a moment to reload and get into position. Thermite planted a charge on the floor of the bar, intended to distract while they stormed the stairs. The German police cracked open the Secret Tunnel entrance and filed in, prepared to assist Rainbow when the time came.

Blitz descended the stairs, followed by IQ and Ash, and Pulse with Thermite again taking rear guard. Dokkaebi was to use the hole in the ceiling to get a good line of sight on the Church with her DMR.

There was an issue up ahead of them, as the stairs branched off into two equally narrow and deadly corridors, with a high possibility of ambush. No amount of droning can stop a bullet going through your brain, so they had to be extremely cautious in how they approached the situation. The plan was to allow Blitz to push the main hall and block it while Thermite cleared the storage room with Ash. It was the best plan they could have with the tools supplied.

Ash threw her drone under the doorway of the storage room as Blitz pushed forwards, only to have it met with a gunshot, rendering it useless. She grunted in anger, then brought her breaching launcher to her shoulder. Thermite stood at the ready. Pulse pulled his cardiac sensor from the side pouch on his leg and scanned the room for a few moments, then held up three fingers.

The breaching charge screamed through the air and burrowed deep into the door before it, destroying it with a controlled expolsion. Flashbangs were lobbed into the storage room, followed by a Texan wielding a shotgun. Three shots were fired, three shells ejected, and three corpses laid before him.

"Move up!" He called behind him. Ash and Pulse followed.

Blitz and IQ made their way to the end of the hall and placed a breaching charge on the door to Church. They would coordinate their breaches for the best effect. IQ took the opportunity to roll a black eye cam under the door, allowing Valkyrie to scan the room as it rolled through.

"Two hostiles in the middle of the room, shotguns. One in the back corner." The American said.

With that, Thermite blew down his door with his shotgun and detonated his ceiling breach, while Blitz blew his charge, allowing them to burst in and shoot the two men standing by the dining table. The last man took cover behind the table he was situated near, which allowed him a brief bit of cover. Blitz rushed the man, with Thermite and Ash nearing the corner at around the same time. It would have meant certain death for the man to stay still, which is why he stood up, detonator in hand, and ran at the operators. Instantly, they drew backwards, each firing as many rounds as they could into the man. They would have certainly died if Dokkaebi hadn't disabled his detonator earlier, allowing her the calm to blow a hole directly in his forehead. The corpse fell with a loud thud.

"Watch yourselves, Rainbow. That was too damn close." Was all that Sledge had to add as his pulse returned to a lowered state.

The operators were only distracted by the bomber for a second or two, but it was long enough for cans to be rolled into the room from the Armory. It only took a second for them to realize what it was, but the hiss of the gas escaping their canisters was their defining answer.

"COMPOUND Z! FALL BACK, I REPEAT, FALL BACK!" Sledge screamed into their ears.

The yellow gas quickly spread around the room, and it was by some stroke of luck that the Rainbow operators made their way out of the room without coming into contact with it. However, as soon as Blitz made his way into the hall, White Masks in biochemical resistant suits flooded the Church and spilled out of the armory, firing their weapons. It took all of Blitz's resolve not to turn and run, leaving the others to brave gunfire to make it to safety. But he was the shield, and he protected them from the hail of AK and M4 rounds being thrown their way.

The operators rushed upstairs, the sound of Dokkaebi's DMR firing muted by the sounds of gunfire and the screams over the radio from the lead officer as the cramped tunnels were filled to the brim with toxic gas.

"BRAVO, GET THE HELL IN THERE. BLACKBEARD, GLAZ, I WANT YOUR ASSES COVERING THEIR EXFIL."

Bravo team grabs as many door barricades as they could and ran to the building, Frost and Kapkan peeling off to the East and West to barricade the doors and walls on the far ends, while the others went straight for the Bar to board off the largest and closest exit for toxins. The upstairs would have to wait. Containment was top priority right now. However limited the barricades may be, they would provide enough containment for the current time to keep the gas contained enough. CBRN teams would need to be deployed now.

Bravo team, Mira, Smoke, Bandit, and Doc, jumped into the Bar and began barricading the side doors and covering Alpha as they made their way out. A White Mask had just made his way up the stairs when he was cut down by MP5 fire from Doc. The team quickly left the building, leaving Bandit to close the window behind them, and found cover behind a pair of armored vans that had pulled up during the siege. Bandit had the barricade halfway down when another shot fired, this time from behind him as Glaz found an enemy through the increasingly thick fog, one that would have surely fired at Bandit. The German nodded his thanks to the man and ran to the others.

They had to stay away from the rest of the personnel, or risk them being exposed to any Compound Z that hung on to them through that firefight. It was too much of a hazard to get anywhere near those in the vans.

"Rainbow, hold on until CBRN arrives. We need to reevaluate this entire operation. The local forces have taken seven casualties so far, three confirmed dead. We don't need any more of our own to be on that list."

Pulse sighed heavily and rested his head against the side of the armored vehicle they stood behind.

"What a fucking shitshow."


	7. Chapter 7

The operation was a disaster. Whilst most of the White Masks within the Biker Club were neutralized, the eight or so who survived were now in a reinforced and biohazardous building with more weapons than they could use. Several RPG-7 rockets had been seen within the armory via drone surveilance, as well as several different styles of small arms. There were several crates which seemed to store necessary supplies as well, which added to the list of growing concerns. This could become a drawn out siege.

Now the covert and highly secretive smash and grab operation was put on hold until the CBRN unit arrived, giving the remaining Masks more time to prepare for the next assault. They likely were planning on a pyrrhic victory rather than escape, so those who went in would need to be prepared for explosives, gas, and suicide tactics.

Reduced visibility was now a major issue, as Compound Z had a tendency to thicken and obscure vision, and while it was possible to mount flashlights on the helmets of the biohazard resistant combat suits, it would surely become a beacon for the terrorists to shoot at.

Yet another issue would be the lack of assistance for Rainbow. Local forces were forced to stay on the defensive as they hadn't the biohazard resources, nor the trained manpower to attempt another assault. This would be entirely up to Rainbow.

The Masks had forced Rainbow's hand, and now it was going to answer. The entry teams of Alpha and Bravo were to wait for Echo team, a smaller group consisting of Finka, Buck, and Ying, to arrive. The CBRN specialists would assist them in the second assault. Hopefully, it would be the last.

It had been four hours since the first assault, allowing the CBRN branch to arrive and set up their equipment and decontamintion showers, which Alpha and Bravo reluctantly had to use before being given uniforms and decontamintion suits to wear over them. Showers were the last thing any of them wanted right next to a compound full of killers with chemicals.

Sledge and Finka, the current lead operative for the CBRN branch, were discussing what exactly they could do about the current situation. They no longer had the inside man, confirmed dead by helmet camera footage captured by Blitz, which was unfortunate but entirely foreseeable. The man had to hold a gun at all times, and was indescernable from any other terrorist within the facility. The operators weren't to be told, but Sledge knew, and held a certain respect for the dead man.

He realized then that Finka had been speaking of some strategy while he was lost in thought.

"...Priorities, and the main priority needs to be containment. You would not believe how easy it is for this to kill you, and to let it leach into the sky more than it has will have some serious consequences."

"So you're saying we need to do something now."

"Preciesly. The longer we wait, the longer they have to disperse more Compound Z, the more they can release when we enter. We're playing into their plan more and more with every passing second."

"We're working on our own here, so we will need to deploy all four teams simultaneously."

It wasn't going to be easy. The Terries had regained control of the building once more, barricading and reinforcing what they could, and throwing gas throughout. While there may only be a handful of them, it was enough that they could overwhelm Rainbow if they were to coordinate properly, so Rainbow had to catch them all seperately and quickly. They were still reinforcing, so they had an opportunity to catch them off guard. If any of them were to see a single drone, they would likely hole back up in the Armory and detonate their remaining gas grenades, and likely use their expolsive ordnance to destroy a part of the building, or the operators, and release the toxins from the building.

"Alright. Get the teams ready. I'll be joining you this time."

Finka nodded and walked off towards the operators while Sledge went to get his chemical resistant gear on. Something told him that if he wasn't involved personally, things would fall apart.

* * *

An operation had been planned and assembled within the hour. Alpha and Bravo together would storm the building via the bar. Alpha would remain in the bar, while Bravo and the CBRN unit stormed the basement level, grabbing the objective if they could, neutralizing hostiles, and leaving as soon as possible. Charlie would be responsible for watching and clearing the third floor. Quick smash and grab op, nothing to it. Of course, that's what the first attempt was supposed to be, and it went so very well.

Drones were deployed en-masse, thirteen being thrown out and placed around the building at important and overlapping sightlines, completely mapping out the first floor, the upstairs bedroom, and the basement. Five White Masks had been located, but they couldn't be sure of how many there truly were.

"Move out Rainbow. Prepare for re-entry."

Finka lead her unit alongside Alpha and Bravo, positioning themselves outside of the Bar, Kitchen, and Stock Room, waiting for the green light from Charlie.

"Glaz and Blackbeard are in position, You're clear to move in. Good luck Rainbow."

The yellow clad figures entered the building, silently and swiftly, leaving nothing behind but the slight sound of suppressed weapon fire.

* * *

Hereford's war room was overflowing with members of Rainbow watching the live feed directly from the action. Several screens showed different operator perspectives, as well as drone feeds, with Seamus' voice drowning out the lowered volume from each. Orders were being thrown left and right, causing operators to change positions.

The brief flash of a muzzle caused everyone watching to tense until the terrorist slumped down before Timur, no longer of concern. It was incredibly stressful to watch, but almost all of their fellow operators could not help but stare. They needed to see their comrades come home, even if it meant watching them brush with death.

Baker was growing more grey by the minute as he watched with disdain. It was hard to watch his men go head to head with these... Lunatics. He just wanted to see them all out of there himself, even if it meant pulling them from the op. But he knew that would never happen. As much as he had grown fond of them, they all knew the commitment they had made.

Alexsandr seemed to be in much the same mood, watching with glazed eyes as he sat next to Baker. There was a quiet understanding between the two senior operators, something that the younger ones just wouldn't get until they too had seen so many soldiers come and go under their command. It never got easier.

"How in the hell did we not know there was biohazardous ordnance within the compound?"

Julien's question rang through the room for a few moments as all soaked it in. It was a fair question, all things considered. The clubhouse had been surveilied for the past three months, including inside reports from their implant, and yet nothing had even remotely suggested the presence of toxic and dangerous weapons. It was entirely possible that it had been there before surveilance truly began, but it was far more likely that the White Masks had caught onto the watchings of Rainbow.

"That Frenchie, is the question of the hour," was all that Baker had to add. He figured the rest of them hadn't come to the conclusion he had reached. It was possible that they had figured it out on their own, but it was more likely that the Masks have their own rat within Rainbow.

The talking continued without Baker as he stepped out of the room and walked down to his office. It was apparent to him that he needed to speak with Six about this, and that he should lie low for a while. Who knows who might be listening.

As he entered his office, Baker was greeted by a new file on his desk, in the deep crimson of Six's department. She must have been on the same line of thought. Opening the file, he found the message to be smaller than normal, but the contents were far more important. It read as most other messages did, asking about operator conditions and future plans for the organization, but a key section that anyone would have glanced past caught Baker's eye. It was a hidden message, one that only SAS veterans of old were trained to look for, and the new kids wouldn't have even thought of.

The words were coming back to him, and they chilled him to the bone.

 _Rainbow has been compromised._


	8. Chapter 8

The rec room in the Hereford base was alive and well, just as it always was right after an operation. Drinks were passed around, jokes were exchanged and laughs filled the air as colleagues tried to restore some levity to the lives of those who had just endured hell. It was a tradition as old as Rainbow itself at this point, something that had carried over from the days of Ding Chavez, to be kept preserved even as the world changed around them.

And it was a good tradition at that. Whether it was healthy or not remained to be seen, and remained to be Gustave's main concern, but for the moment all was forgotten in lieu of the jovial atmosphere.

"So there we were, Elias with his shit eating grin standing in the doorway with Monika practically screaming, and it looked like a damn murder scene..."

Marius was retelling the story of how Dominic had cut himself something nasty as a prank, which almost always tended to be far beyond what a normal person would consider a prank, to some of the newer additions to Rainbow. Dominic sat at the far end of the table, smirking something fierce as he recalled the event himself. He still had that scar...

Mike Baker entered the room, and for once they were all far too elated to mind the presence of the senior officer, and simply continued their discussions. If only that were the case more often.

Despite the warning he received, Baker had decided that he should still unwind after that particularly stressful operation he oversaw. His vices always caught up with him when they could, and with the lack of a proper schedule for the day, the drink found its way into his system once more.

A particularly hammered James walked over to him and put an arm on his shoulder, although from the amount of weight being placed on Baker, it seemed James was entirely reliant on him for balance.

"Well if it isn't the old crock in the nest of the fresh'uns. Tell me Bakeh', what exactly brings yous into such a friendly place?"

Baker merely let out a brief sigh, and moved away from James, allowing him to find himself the comfortable support of the wall, which he managed to stumble to before the floor dragged him down. Truely, it was a miracle the man was capable of standing at all.

Baker found his way to the table of the more likeminded individuals on the roster, consisting of Monika, Zofia, Gilles, Timur, and the new guest Lera. They seemed to be getting along well, and he had been meaning to check in with the guests from Rainbow's home brewed branch anyways.

As he sat, he found that the occupants were almost entirely sobber, or at least really good at not looking plastered, playing a round of poker, Gilles being the dealer. As he sat, he motioned for Gilles to set him up, and he did so with practiced ease.

Zofia smirked as he sat. "And to what do we owe the pleasure of your company to, Mr. Baker?"

"What can I say, even old lads need to wash a few thoughts out with a brew now and then."

"Amen to that." Was all the Polish woman had to say back.

The conversation continued where it had been left, a small discussion about which of their fellow operators could beat Lera in a fight. The general consensus was that although she was strong and talented, there was no way she could take Seamus or Gilles. The rest were to be decided.

Gilles seemed satisfied with that answer, even if he was silent. He was often forgotten due to his quiet nature, but the man could give Seamus a run for his money if they were to have a sledge hammer competition.

Perfect specimens aside, Baker had to agree from what he'd read of her files. Dangerously effective in close range, several knife and hand to hand techniques under her belt, and that was without her nano technology.

"Might I ask what were to happen if those nano bots of yours were to be hit with an EMP?"

Lera seemed to sober a bit at the question, but retained her smile. "I would likely suffer pain within a few hours, excrutiating pain in a day, and unbearable pain within 48 hours."

"Remind me to keep my toys away from yours then."

* * *

While the rest of their units pretended to ignore what was so obviously happening, a pair of soldiers, the smaller woman dragging the larger man, practically sprinted down the hallways towards the dorms. Staff passed by and sent them sidelong glances, but the woman was not concerned whatsoever. The man seemed to be a bit embarrassed by the situation, but he was tugged along too fast to linger on any particular encounter.

"Emma, please slow down."

"Just shut up and get in here," was her answer as she burst into her room and pulled him in. As soon as he passed into her living quarters, the door was quickly slammed shut, and a pair of lips were pushed against his.

Timur's eyes widened and he merely tried to reorganize his thoughts as he was shoved against the nearest wall. Emma pulled back for a few seconds to stare him in the eyes.

"Just... Kiss me you dummy."

Under normal circumstances, he would have declined, but with the drink in their systems and the tension that had been growing between them over the weeks...

He answered by lifting her up by the waist, pressing his lips to hers, and throwing the two of them onto her bed.

* * *

The table had quickly gathered more players as the game progressed, and eventually it had taken a... Turn. Several garments of varying styles were tossed about on the floor, but their owners continued to stare at their cards and give threatening glances to each other. Sebastien had been reduced to his trousers, Meghan to her shirt and undergarments, Lera had only lost her shoes, Monika was on the verge of losing her pants, and Baker sat fully clothed, smugly winking at the others. Zofia had to drop out earlier due to how badly she was doing, and refused to continue with strip poker. Such a stick in the mud.

A small group of Mark, Jordan, and Liu stood behind Baker, shaking their heads at the true display of tactical knowledge being shown by their commanding officer. It was something that all soldier who had served upwards of twenty years had learned in their time. Strip poker was a valued part of SAS tradition back when he enlisted, and he'd be damned if he were bested in his lifetime.

"Oh shit Seb, time to drop the pants!"

Meghan's shout brought Baker back into the real world as he watched Sebastien sigh and stand up form his seat. There were a few hollers and whistles as he dropped his jeans and sat in his skivvies, shaking his head.

"I'm not losing the beanie."

Meghan grinned and leaned in closer to him and whispered, "Good, because that's not what I wanted to see off next, hun."

Baker shook his head and picked up his new hand that Gilles sent out.

"If I have to see your todger, you're off the team."

"Aye sir, I'll make sure it stays put."

And it did, much to Meghan's disappointment. The night began to grow old and the players and their spectators began to retire to their bunks. Eventually it just became a staring match between Lera and Meghan to see who could mentally undress the other, and so Baker took his leave.

As the final players left the rec room, Ryad awoke from his short nap and stared at the two women as they left, wondering why the hell he always had to sleep through the good stuff.

"Mierda."

* * *

 **Sorry for the lack of updates folks, had to take a bit of break from this to organize what direction I wanted it to go in. I'll try to put in a blend of the more serious chapters and the more fluff and operator relationshippy chapters, and hopefully I can do it in a decent way.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

Two weeks had passed since the last operation, and for the moment it seemed as if the White Masks had been sent back into hiding. No further leads had been cracked from the information gathered at the biker club, and no movements had been identified in the areas of likely activity. The Masks had gone silent.

"FUCK SAKE."

Seamus ripped his VR goggles off and stepped out of his omni-directional walking surface. The damn technology never ceased to irritate him, he much rather prefered the kill house.

"That damn Brazilian bitch keeps sneaking up on me. You tech bastahds bette'h up her sound profile again. No way in hell is she that quiet."

The virtual reality facility had been used nearly non-stop for the past few days, with the operators spending hours on end facing off against their counterparts. It was a decent way to both keep their skills sharp and shit talk one another. So far, the latter was the most commonly seen.

The insults eventually turned to challenges, and the challenges found their way into a competition. Since no operations had been scheduled, the team had taken it upon themselves to see who were the top operators in a tournament of skill. No restrictions, none of the modifications built into the system to level the playing field. All gadgets, all equipment, and any version of their weapons that had ever been entered into the systems. Including optics.

Of course, the idea of working with frags and acogs once more was quite appealing to others, and less recoil even more so to the rest. The tournament was guaranteed to happen. Hell, even Six wanted to see what it would be like to have them face off without any ankle weights.

The tournament was going to be held on the following day, so the operators were getting reaquainted with their old gear for as long as they could. Sledge had been too preoccupied with staring down the acog sight of his sidearm that he couldn't hear Caviera until the tape of her nitro cell was ripped.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, there's plenty of worse things you've done"

Seamus scowled as Valkyrie shook her head at him. It was true, he had tried to beat down several people with his hammer in the past, and being their resident intelligence officer, she was watching more than a few when they happened.

"Yeah yeah, just move your ass over on tha' bench lass."

Meghan wiggled her eyebrows at him in challenge at the request.

"Or what, you're gonna move it yourself?"

Seamus, ever the gentleman, simply ignored her vaguely sexual comment and sat down right next to her on the viewing bench, forcing her to move over. With a mild huff of indignation, the blonde moved.

* * *

 _OpFor, last operator standing._

 _OpFor eliminated, mission success._

* * *

And just like that, the match had ended, with a landslide victory by the offensive team over the defensive. The constant barrage of Shock Drones, frag grenades, and environmental scans proved to be too much for the defenders to deal with, and were easy pickings for the attackers.

Baker stood up from the viewing section and walked towards the competitors, clapping. It was quite obviously his sarcastic clap.

"Good job everyone, I love it when I watch a bunch of wanks fucking make a mockery of our program. Get your trigger fingers out of your asses and put them to work for fuck's sake. Now get going, you all smell like shit."

With a few nods, the remainder of the operators filed out of the simulation room and headed off to the showers. Meghan stood up and walked over to the older Englishman and pulled out her military grade touchpad.

"I got digging into those files you sent me, and let me tell you, there is a lot of garbled shit. It's not the decryption software's fault, they just ran this intel through their own language or something. I was only able to pull out pieces of it, but it seems they were in contact with at least three seperate people within the SAS."

She pulled up the relevent files and started drawing imaginary lines for reference.

"...It seems that they've got minimal information on Rainbow, but for now we shouldn't worry about us, moreso that the Queen's own have been compromised."

Baker stood stock still, only moving his eyes to stare off at the wall. Meghan would be concerned if she hadn't seen him do so thousands of other times, but it still put the hairs on the back of her neck up.

"...I'll send some to Six and some of my colleagues. We'll need to be limiting our interaction with proper CTU's until further notice."

"That's your plan?"

"Not much else I can do Meghan. You know how much of a stranglehold the suits have on my jurisdiction."

Meghan silently leans against the wall and folds her arms, unhappily accepting the response.

"We can't keep this from the rest of the team for much longer."

"I know."

"Then what are we going to do about it Mike?"

The older veteran turned to leave, but stopped to reply for the briefest of moments.

"We'll do our jobs."

With that last cryptic response, Baker left Meghan to wallow in her own thoughts for the rest of the night.

* * *

The shared locker room was filled with the operators who had spent their entire day feuding in the virtual arena, casually chatting as they slotted away their gear and false rifles. A few began to peel off their sweat soaked uniforms, some not caring who saw what, while others filed into the showers and change rooms to more privately change garments. As usual, the muscular Alexandr wanted nothing more than to show off his body sculpted over decades, which Lera was more than happy to see. A water bottle was squeezed at Alexandr from afar, soaking his torso in water, causing some of the female operators to catcall. Alexandr was more than happy to receive their attention.

Timur, on the other hand, was not one for attention, and gathered his belongings and headed to the exit.

"Wait Tim."

He turned to see Emma, still mildly wet from her shower with a towel around her shoulders walking towards him. He smiled slightly and nodded to her. The pair began to walk out, followed by the typical chorus of "Awww's" that seemed to follow every time. Emma felt the need to further antagonize him today and put a hand on his rear and squeezed, causing him to jump and the locker room to erupt in laughter as they left.

"MUST YOU?"

She smirked and nodded.

"I must indeed, Mr. Glazkov."

He rolled his eyes and put a hand around her shoulder as they walked.


End file.
